A few days back, I had a privilege to attend the #eNICULaunch (Advanced Technology Neonatal ICU) of #ApolloCradle (India’s leading Women & Childrens’ Hospital). This is the first-time initiative by ‘Apollo Cradle’ in India, which will automate the workflow of NICU (starting from the day of admission/birth till the discharge of the baby) and thus, reducing the responsibilities of the users (nurses, doctors, and administrators).
Through the eNICU, Apollo Cradle specialists will now be able to monitor the minute details including the medication levels, nutrition/ feeding pattern, calorie/growth charts of the babies, whilst in the hospital and also, remotely. It will also help the Apollo Cradle doctors support the NICUs in smaller towns. The real-time monitoring of pre-term babies, with complete digital records, will improve clinical outcomes and provide world-class treatment in India. According to WHO Report, 1 in 10 babies are born preterm. Approximately 1 million children die each year, due to complications of pre-birth. India has the highest preterm birth rate in the world, accounting for 23% of preterm babies born globally. These babies are extremely vulnerable and usually die due to several birth complications, acquired infections and damage to their brain, lungs or eyes. Premature babies require special treatment in the hospitals and their progress is maintained manually by nurses and doctors. All the calculations and real-time data such as heart-rate, coming from devices connected to the baby are noted manually. These manual entries and calculations have the potential to result in a high error rate.
This is from my personal experience – my cousin’s daughter was born in the six months of her pregnancy only and her birth weight was just 650 gms. When we first saw her, we were shaken and prayed to God for her good health. I have seen very closely what a preemie requires and what kind of care should be given to the newborn and mother both. Every small detail matters and if not taken care of properly, it can prove devastating. Even during my first pregnancy, I had to go under immediate c-sec delivery due to less fluid in my womb and my daughter was born, 1 month before the due date. She’s an IUGR baby and was just 1.3 kgs. Had we were not given proper treatment, anything could have happened. We spent almost two weeks in the hospital and my daughter was kept in the nursery for 4-5 days. We used to calculate her milk intake, her weight and other ‘n’ number of things for the first initial days. I used to put an alarm every 2 hours so as to express and provide milk to her every 2.5 hours. We can’t take any chance with a preemie. They need very close monitoring and utmost care.
I feel, with the eNICU, things will become more clear and easy for the doctors and they would be able to provide better care and treatment to the preemies and new mothers.
Here’s a glimpse of how eNICU enables better care:-
1. It provides excellent clinical outcomes
2. It helps clinicians evaluate the efficacy of their interventions
3. It ensures zero errors because of the automation of workflows
4. It provides quick clinical decisions because of real-time data reporting
5. It also enables remote access and provides critical instructions to the users
6. It provides date analysis and deep learning helps in predicting the onset of any future complications
All of the above things are really very difficult with a manual process.
Dr. Avneet Kaur, Senior Consultant, Neonatology Department, Apollo Cradle Hospital said, eNICU will significantly improve the efficacy of our neonatal services. One major advantage is that retrieval of records becomes easier as everything will now be recorded in digital format. The digitization also reduces duplication errors as it removes the need for multiple manual data entry. There are added benefits for doctors as the new system allows for an integration of various neonatal measurement scores and acts as a clinical decision support mechanism by notifying doctors of upcoming infection in a pre-symptomatic stage.”
What do you think about this super initiative by Apollo Cradle? Let me know in the comments section below!
Note: This article was originally published by me here.